New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-12-04
CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN.
THE FIRST AMERICAN NOVELIST.

ExocKnrS brown, limo. PIP. 1853 Philadelphia
David Mckay
Ths rovels of Charles Brockden Brown have
,svsr been highly popular Even when they we're
fre.h and in the IA shiou of the time they cannot be
sait I, have enjoyed booksellers success. From
the first, however, they have attracted critical
notice they have been favOrte subjects with
American cssaysts and theme of no little ~ aise
In England, where they were reDublished in the
esily part of the century. lntrinsicaly well as
historically they occupy so important place In
American literature that 10 one who desires good
general acquaintance With TIE progress of letters
10 this country can afford TO overlook them. Al
though Wieand," the first of the series, dates
rom the year 1898, the Issue now undertaken in
Philadelphia is We believe, only the third collected
edition of the novels. and its immediate predeces-
sor was pat upon the market no less than thirty
years ago Mr. Mckay has determined to present
tho SIX volumes in a dress appropriate 10 the con-
spicuOus place which they deserve TO occupy IN
American libraries They are well printed, n.ciear
type on thick linon paper, aud bound IN ha.f vel
Inn with olive clo.h sides gilt top and unirimn cd
edges Tae only fault we ale disposed 10 tndwith
the workm anship is that the very heavy sheets
not we'll stitched, 50 that the binding is less sub
santial than it appears Despite this defect the
edition is credit 10 tue taste and liberallty OF the
trade.
CHARLES Brocklen Brown was not only the hrst
American novelist and tie first Amer-
oan who made the cultivation of letters
life profession but he WAS the first of oar writer's III
whom the quality of Imagination was distinctly
prolohinant-we are tempted to saw che hrst III
whom i was discOverabe at ALL lie appeared
. little prematurely. toward che eud OF that hard
bouni era of teeologic trcatises and political
pan phlets in hch our literature had its unloveiy
beginnings, sometimes when the fIozen fonn-
fl, hraa IN
are swelling on the tinted trees there comes sud
den flush OF ii and song of unexpected birds, be-
fore nature realizes that is not yet spring AT tho
time ol the tr, publication OF " Wieiaui tho pur-
suit of polite letters in the United states amounted
to nothing than a little triillnI with the
weakest dilettanteism. There had been attempt
i'll the line of prose fiction; aud in poetry we still
pluncd ourselves upon " he Battle OF the Kegs
"Mctingal,' ana the various lyrics of Frerean. y
collection of " American Poems" tie iiISt volume
of a series destined never to 90 any further had
lust been printed in Litchleld, Connecticut ami 1t
contained hardly piece which wOLld now be called
poeticil. ana not name to which u Is possible TO
apply til title of poet We had not even reached
the long. slow. even fool of Joel Barlows" Column
bai" ard 1t was u be tN enty years before we ar
rived at the stage of culture represented by The
Croker Papers" When Brown left Philadelphia
in search OF literary society IN Newt ok he iounl
the metropolis-re presented by the Frienly Club
who,el aiding spirits DUNLAP the painter,
playwright d historian of the art sand the stage
and samuel l.. Mitchell. the versatile physician
There were doubtless many Pheasant and imPrON ing
nights. with the bellies sttres. the punch, and the
oysters but not more than three or ioIr OF the au-
tlor,in that circle are known 70 us by name. and
none of them read. The most that car be SAID
OF American literature at the end of the last cent
ury is that it began TO stir with some faint hdii
desire for lite. The sudden mlnIestat.on Of posi-
tvoiorce like that of Charles Brockden Brown IN the
midst of such a society of fut lites was phenom-
,non which astonishei his contemporaries, more
than it instr lctcd them He was before his time
and his influence was slight. We had 30 novelist
after tim until Cooper.
Brown is especially interesting because he exhb-
It's in a high degree the precise merit IN which
Other American writers of his tine most deficient
In a literary barren evenof fancy, he surprises
us With a vigorous and affluent maginatiOn, which
speeds hi, through thrilling nclicnts, and fills
his glowing pages with mystery, horror pathos and
excitement lie has not much ingenuity The /
mechanism of WieldnI " is clumsy the cOnstruc. |
ton is ipartjfcial; personages arc pushea hithe
AMI thi:her like che sltuat ons are forced |
where they ight have been naturally developed !
The power which drives on the story with an al !
most irresistible DOW and keeps the attention OF
the reader strain, is not tue artihce OF an ac-
compshcl plotmaker, but an Unborn Impulse akin
to genius The strength of the novel Is In the con
ception The working out is often grayely at
fault. W Gland is written IN sustained tragic
vein. never lightelei for mOnent, an It's scenes
comprise a succession of appalling marves and ter
rible catastrophos 1t is evidence OF the quality
of Browns gift that in,ted of being repCl from
these shocking incidents so are irresistDy fa,ci-
tad ly han -, il an eN d "A II
bent 10y inherited tendency and pletistc self-ndng-
ence to "a belief in supernatural cOnmualc atoms
to The lnGivilul, and fin lily impelIei, Ey an cX
terna Agency TO a mnGlerOls attack o. religious
mania The fatal cause Of the Transformation IS
nothing more than the trckery OF a veltriiOIuist;
but the descriptions powerful the narrative.
placed in tue mouth of WIeilnds sister Clara Is 50
in passioned, the trapDlngs OF mystery are 50 I'M
pressive, that when we know the secret we
forget its triviality while are under the spell OF
tho book. Obvious defects are that the motives of
the ventr0quist are vague and insufficient; that
the INVESTIGATIONS directed more against Clara
than her brother; that the growth OF WielIuds
delusions is nowhere described, but he rem ans an
inactive anil unntcreoting person In the tale until
the chief catastrophe Itself belals. Throughout the
book se have been cOncerD ed mainly with Clara
and the mysterious Carwin. When Wiei' nd sud
denly becomes the protagonis ii Is as # l. ertes in
the last act should take the stage from Hamlet.
Nevertheless the dramatic situations effective
that all this may be forgotten
Browns style is animated and fluent and only his
adherence to the formal fashions of his day pre-
vents it from being easy. lie belongs to a time in
which to write for the press in the fiction OF com
mon life would have seemed as INDIGENOUS as re
ceving company in flannel wrapper His person
ages rave in stately periods. and their rhetoric rises
with their passion In moments of agony they
turn OH careful exercises in English composition
Clara overwhelmed by her lover with the vilcst
and falsest charges and doubted even by Wieand.
is able in her grief AMI abasement 10 address er
brother in the following choice Language +" may
La n a.r,ncnr IN tho ornnuls nf Xnnr hecf. PlcXel